24th SATANIC STOMP

The Satanic Stomp is thee Psychobilly festival in the world and goes from strength to strength as does the genre. The 16 bands over the two days not only highlighted the longevity of the double bass bothering mutant offspring of rockabilly but also its diversity. The glorious weather made for some unseasonal sunbathing along with the barbaric drinking out in the car park before the masses converged in the main hall to form a sea of raging quiffs dotted with a few slap-heads that betrayed a few decades of hairspray abuse. Highlights early on included The Guitar Slingers which featured duelling guitars showcasing some rockabilly shredding and The Highliners who managed to get a crowd, who’s idea of dancing is a light-hearted but violent bashing each other senseless in a wrecking pit that would have any ‘mosher’ running for cover, taking part in a massive conga. The Long Tall Texans’ set of classics kept the smiles going, apart from maybe the owners of the two double basses that Mark Carew managed to slap to near death in the process. Mad Sin, now a German mainstream album chart act, brought the brutal back with colossal collection of their back-catalogue. Guana Batz are always a worthy headliner all sprawling tattoo and Klub Foot classics. Day two and The Astro Zombies went orbital at an early hour though probably didn’t prepare the crowd for the horror of The Coffin Nails who started their set with YMCA, yes that one, and saw head nail Humungous sporting a pair of arseless leather chaps, of course everyone loved it. Stories of Demented Are Go’s demise were once again premature, Sparky and his sultans of sickness out to prove that they are still the business and that the new-look line-up are as good as ever. Batmobile headlined and proved that they are top of the food chain despite their gigs being rarer and rarer these days. After a blistering set of zebra-printed double bass pummelling classics guitar toting singer Jeroen Haamers surprised and delighted the crowd with an impassioned solo rendition of Johnny Cash’s version of the NIN classic Hurt to bring another memorable Stomp to an unexpected but totally fitting end. Simon Nott